Chapter 102
Chapter 102:
Cole muttered a curse under his breath and yanked the collar of his bathrobe open, as though more air might help. He forced his attention back toward the afternoon board meeting and held it there.
Back in the sterile lab, June pulled her latex gloves back on and returned to the microscope. Her eyes were cold and completely focused.
She was going to use pure, undeniable data to dismantle every humiliating label the Compton family had ever pressed upon her. The storm was fully formed. It was moving in a straight, unhurried line toward the Javits Center.
It was nine in the morning.
Outside the Javits Center, the security presence was absolute. Armed guards stood at every entrance, and a fleet of black SUVs and luxury cars clogged the drop-off zone.
A massive extended Rolls-Royce pulled up to the edge of the red carpet. The heavy door swung open and Cole stepped out in a perfectly tailored midnight-blue suit, his face a mask of cold corporate indifference. Alycia slid out right behind him in a plunging, bright red couture gown that demanded attention, a heavy diamond necklace resting against her collarbone.
The wall of photographers erupted. Camera flashes exploded in rapid bursts.
Alycia smiled brilliantly and hooked her arm tight through Cole’s, deliberately slowing her pace. She wanted every lens in that crowd to capture her as the undisputed queen of the Compton empire. Cole’s jaw tightened. The blinding lights gave him an instant headache — he loathed this kind of exposure — but the weight of his guilt over his brother forced him to endure it.
They moved through the VIP entrance and into the massive main hall. Beneath towering crystal chandeliers, the titans of Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry stood in small clusters, speaking in low, measured tones.
𝖱e𝖼o𝗆𝘮еոd 𝘵𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝘂𝗿 𝖿𝗋𝘪𝗲n𝘥𝗌
Declan and Julian were already seated in the front row of the Investor Section. Declan was leafing through the summit itinerary with the casual ease of a man who had no reason to rush.
Julian spotted Cole and Alycia approaching and let out a loud, mocking snort. “Look at her,” he muttered to Declan. “She looks like an actress at the Oscars. Doesn’t she know this is a science summit p>
Declan closed the booklet. His sharp blue eyes tracked Cole as he settled into a seat two places away. A slow, anticipatory smirk touched the corner of his mouth.
Alycia sat beside Cole and immediately plucked a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray. She stood and angled herself toward two FDA executives nearby, inserting herself into their conversation with practiced ease. The executives glanced at her red dress, offered a stiff, courteous nod for Cole’s benefit, and returned without pause to a discussion of complex molecular binding structures. Alycia did not understand a single word. She stood there, her smile slowly freezing on her face, entirely invisible to the people around her.
Then the heavy double doors on the far side of the hall swung open.
This was the Core Scientific Channel — strictly off-limits to investors and media alike. A quiet, measured rhythm of footsteps carried from the corridor beyond.
Silas emerged first in a sharp gray suit.